Department for Communities and Local Government

Combined Authorities

Mr Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further plans he has to introduce combined authorities in non-metropolitan or unitary authority areas.

Jake Berry: The Government’s manifesto commitment is to support councils that wish to combine to serve their communities better and we will consider any proposals councils put forward for a combined authority.

Business: Public Transport

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2017 to Question 3183, how much funding has been allocated to (a) the UK, (b) England and (c) North West England; and how much each of those constituent parts has been allocated through the Local Growth Fund.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 20 July 2017



Through the Local Growth Fund, the Government is committing £12 billion to local areas in England between 2015 and 2021. £9.1 billion of this has been awarded through Growth Deals between Government and Local Enterprise Partnerships, of which the North West has been awarded £1.6 billion.

Home Office

UK Border Force: Dogs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many detector dogs Border Force had in each (a) airport, (b) port and (c) train terminal in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Border Force works at the Border with a range of law enforcement partners including the police and the Ministry of Defence, including the use of detector dogs.Border Force detector dogs are a national resource and the current number available for deployment nationally to detect illegal goods and clandestines is 108. 65 of these dogs are wholly owned by Border Force and 43 are provided by a UK based contractor.Since 2010, the numbers have been (Border Force owned dogs only): 2010: 752011: 732012: 702013: 692014: 702015: 642016: 67

Home Office: Brexit

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of her Department's expenditure has been identified as relating to its work on the UK leaving the EU in 2017-18.

Brandon Lewis: Due to the complex and cross-cutting nature of this work, we cannot give an overall figure or percentage of expenditure specifically related to EU exit work.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 49 of his Department's policy paper entitled Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017, what healthcare arrangements have been set out in EU Regulations and domestic law for UK nationals and EU citizens that the Government will seek to protect and guarantee.

Mr Steve Baker: During negotiations and as part of a reciprocal deal, we are looking to protect the healthcare rights of both UK-insured individuals who are living in the EU and of EU-insured individuals who are living in the UK before the specified date.The UK will seek to protect the reciprocal healthcare arrangements which enable UK residents to obtain a European Health Insurance Card, allowing them to benefit from free, or reduced cost, needs-arising healthcare while on a temporary stay in the EU.The UK is also seeking to protect EU healthcare arrangements that enable those who have moved to the EU and continue to receive a UK benefit or draw a UK state pension to receive healthcare cover by the UK in their country of residence.We will also seek to protect EU citizens’ eligibility for NHS funded healthcare in the UK and vice versa for UK nationals in the EU. Those who present valid documentation receive treatment on the NHS, the cost of which is reimbursed to the UK by the member state which provides the individual’s insurance.